HC Minis - new pics pg 172

[chandab]

Topper was the stallion on all three mares, here's his picture:



Ok, 3 years ago, these crosses made these foals...

With Tana (silver bay dun):



We got, Monte (grulla):



With Bonny (double cream, not sure if cremello, perlino or smokey cream, but suspect smokey cream):



We got Manny (either smokey silver black or silver buckskin with blue eyes):



With Misty (silver black):



We got Junior (silver black, and sold):



What do you think we'll get next year?

 

[chandab]

Maybe four, Showy is in the mix this time, but she's still maiden, she's never taken, even though she's been exposed a couple times over the years.

 

[AnnaC]

Good luck Chanda! Keeping my fingers crossed for you as well. Excited for next year to see the results - and sincerely hoping that at last we will be living in our barn conversion, meaning that I will no longer have to rely on wires crossing the yard and over the barn roof that are trying to keep me connected to the internet in my cosy caravan Bessie!

 

[Kim P]

Oh wow, you are going to have lots of excitement around. I think that topper is gorgeous. You will have pretty babies. So if he got with Dolly being white would you get a gray?

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

I'm not sure but I think Dolly is a double dilute. Means the foal will be buckskin, smoky black, or possibly palomino when bred to Topper.

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

Okay checked back a few pages and Dolly is a cremello. Bred to Topper, buckskin, smoky black, and palomino are the only color choices for a foal from them.

 

[chandab]

Yes, Dolly is cremello, so double cream (she'll always pass one copy of cream to her foals). Topper is dark bay. So they would likely produce buckskin, smokey black or palomino with a chance of silver thrown in, since Dolly's sire has silver and it won't show on her coat and I haven't tested her to know if she has it or not. Since, she's not actually in with him, it's unlikely it'll happen, unless they work some serious fence magic.

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

The fence magic can happen. When I bought my stallion from the breeder, she was expecting foals the next year. She had not planned on any. Shr saw my stallion go through a fence and breed one mare before catching him. She ended up with four or five foals that year. She guessed the other foals were by another stallion. When DNA came back as not matching. Had all the stallions that had been on the property tested. My stallion had fathered two other foals without her knowing. She had only seen the one escape. She saw him get out, run to the mare, breed her before they caught him. She has no idea how he got the other two mares pregnant, except through the fence.

 

[chandab]

They are so driving me nuts.

Topper has now taken to not eating all his food. In the morning, I feed the girls hay pellets before they go out on their few hours of grass (Topper was getting his in a Nose-it ball before putting him in with the girls, as it kept him occupied for awhile), now Topper gets his in a pan along with girls he's not been eating it all, this morning he dumped it. My other stallion, Che`, never a problem before, always ate his dinner at night in his stall; well, since turning Topper out with his girls, now Che` isn't eating well and he's pacing the fence line (there is an empty space between Topper's paddock and Che`s paddock, so no shared fenceline). Che` shares a paddock with a mini mare and a mini jenny, so he's not alone. Any suggestions? Or just something to live with with stallions? [Topper will go back in his paddock Aug 1, regardless of whether or not he's gotten the job done, I'm giving him basically one cycle to get it done. So, hopefully, if they do both lose weight, it'll resolve in that time.]

Che` gets senior feed and tim/alf pellets (access to pasture during day and at night gets grass hay, but doesn't eat much). Topper gets a ration balancer and tim/alfa pellets (access to pasture and mix hay).

 

[Ryan Johnson]

After he eats his breakfast Chanda, is he then off in with the mares for grass turnout time ? Maybe he has his mind set on other things ? Did Topper have dates with the girls last year, he maybe just really enjoying his time with them this year?

keep us posted on how they are both going

Could you post the pic of Tana in Kittys thread. I think she really needs to see just how she looked before she foaled

 

[chandab]

If it's not one thing it's another, I'm just copy/paste what I e-mailed to a friend about my other problem...

Holy crap... Two days on grass alfalfa mix pasture (well not actually pasture, just the "yard" where we park vehicles, and I set up panels so the horses can clip the forage, instead of mowing), and Baybe is a hot mess. They have been on grass pasture for several weeks, no problem. I was even able to catch Baybe no problem for her first day on the new

pasture yesterday,

but it was a bit hard to catch her last night, just a couple circles, but she was jittery. Today, she ran in the

barn to be caught to go out, and trying to catch her to go in was a complete nightmare. I couldn't get near her head.

Could kind of touch her hip before she'd take off top speed. It's too hot for running around like goobers, so I

just grabbed a rope to rope her. Three tries before I got it done, and she still ran like a complete goob; tried to

get a halter on her, couldn't get close to her head. Finally, used the rope to take her across the yard to a post,

and finally got her halter on, took her over to the house and hosed her off. She is still on her toes and beside her

self. I wonder if fresh alfalfa is too hot for her? She's had a bit of pelleted alfalfa without issue, but just two

days on fresh and she's a hot mess. Going to do something else tomorrow, not sure where I'll put them, as I don't

have many straight grass areas that are fairly close, but might try down by the calving barn, it's been partially

swathed, so less grass down there; but more than near their barn. Just boggles the mind, but it has to be the

alfalfa, cause that's the only thing that has changed lately.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Id do the same thing and remove her from the fresh Alfalfa for a few days and see if it calms her down. It hasn't had that effect on any of your others ?

 

[paintponylvr]

Is there by any chance a touch of "locoweed" in that alfalfa? Doesn't take much and such a shame as it has such pretty flowers!!

Other than that, I would guess it's due to the straight alfalfa, too.

 

[chandab]

Just the alfalfa, as far as I know. Alfalfa, bromegrass, another grass, and maybe a little bit of sweet clover. The donkey and stallion are fine. Baybe is a bit spooky and reactive anyway, but that was over the top. Tonight at supper, while a little edgy, she let me touch her and talk to her and didn't act like she was going to crawl out of her skin. She was on that pasture all day yesterday, just 3-4 hours today. Tomorrow, I'll catch her take her for a walk and then put her on grass and see how she is to be caught again after being on grass, just to see if there is a difference.

She is weird about being caught, I usually have to catch her on her right, rather than left; good thing she's a smaller mini, or it would be hard to reach over and buckle the strap.

 

[chandab]

Not sure if Topper's getting the job done, seen some "practicing", but little actual "work", so hopefully he's "working" at night when it's cooler out.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Fingers crossed

How is Baybe ? has she calmed down a little after removing her off the fresh Alfalfa ?

 

[chandab]

Baybe has calmed some, but we've backslid a bit on her "taming", she's a bit of a skittish mare, so it's been slow winning her over, this caused a bit of a back slide. Been running the last few days, so no time to work with her, just let them graze a couple little spots I didn't have to halter to get them to and from.

 

[chandab]

Diane, I sure hope you are right. We'll see next spring.

 

[chandab]

Although, I seem to have only seen misses, I do think Topper has talked to all his girls and even the two across the fence that I don't want bred (hope he's not managed any through the fence hanky-panky). I may pull him before August 1 from the mixed pen, but haven't decided yet. They are almost out of grass in their pasture that doesn't have other horses directly bordering it; the mares are fine alone in their pasture that borders other horses, but Topper isn't, so have to come up with something.

My FIL is baling up our yard with his square baler, don't know if much of it will be horse quality, but there are quite a few small square bales for the calving barn, just have to figure out where to put them. I'm not going to try to boost them into the loft, nor drag them through one barn to get to the other for storage, so that would mean outside storage which isn't the best; but I do have to at least pick them from the yard.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Topper sounds like a real gentleman talking to his ladies. Maybe he is getting down to business when no ones around. Hope so, as Id love to see some HC mini kids next year